It Wasn't a Date
by Noxbait
Summary: Set after my story "Two Friends." After their trip to Pegasus...Daniel finds himself wondering just what exactly is going on between him and Vala. This will be a series of stories showing their developing relationship over the course of Season 10. Some may be longer than others. :) Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1: It was just a donut

A/N: So this is kind of a follow up to "Two Friends." Thanks to countrygirl2005 for the hint about a potential sequel about a first date. This is what sprang from that! Hope you enjoy. :)

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**Chapter 1: It was just a donut.**

_A week after the return from Atlantis in Pegasus Project.._

It wasn't a date. It was just coffee and a donut.

As Daniel watched Vala lick her finger and madly stab at the wax paper, trying to lick up every last sprinkle, he couldn't help but smile a bit. His smile hidden, of course, by his coffee cup. She was still talking a mile a minute about the mission they were heading out on later in the afternoon. There had been no lack of enthusiasm from Vala about a trip to Uloe, a world that was offering some substantial resistance and abuse to any Ori nearby. Vala had been there many, many years ago, before she had become host to Quetesh, and her eyes hadn't stopped sparkling since the planet had been mentioned. From what she had said, and had not stopped mentioning since, the Uloe were very close technologically to what she knew of Earth. Of course, she had used that as a not so subtle message to make everyone very aware of how she wanted to learn more about Earth.

She'd been nothing if not persistent in her endless requests for Earth culture. Nagged him until he'd actually snapped at her to shut up yesterday morning. She'd left his office in a huff after that and had barely spoken to him for hours. By 2000, though, she had meandered back into his office; taking up where she'd left off on her internet search of Colorado Springs tourist attractions she wanted to see. The list was about as long as her Christmas list was at this point which did not bode well for Daniel's future credit card bill.

She'd seemed somewhat surprised to find that her search was still up on the computer, but she hadn't commented on it. Daniel had just ignored the situation and concentrated on his translation. He'd had no reason to close her search down. It wasn't a big deal. They'd passed the next several hours in companionable silence. Vala had actually fallen asleep on the couch around 0200 and, he wasn't sure exactly when, but he'd dozed off at some point himself with his head down on his desk. She'd awakened him around 0420 by falling off the couch.

Loudly.

Once they'd fully awakened and sorted out that she wasn't in any way injured, she'd professed desperate hunger and started her nagging again. Which was why Daniel found himself at Dunkin Donuts at 0500 watching Vala lick sprinkles off her fingers.

"Mmmm. I like the pink ones."

Vala's cheerful voice broke through his thoughts. He frowned, "How can you tell a difference? All sprinkles taste the same."

She gave him a goofy smile. "No, silly! Not the sprinkles! I like the pink softies...no, no that isn't it...wait..." She held up a finger to forestall any questions, or suggestions. Frowning for a moment, she snapped her fingers, "Smoothies!"

"Smoothies?" Daniel glanced over his shoulder to look at the menu. "You like the pink smoothies?"

"Well, I like the color anyway." She pouted. "I've never actually had one, now have I?"

With a deep sigh, Daniel handed her a five dollar bill. He found it difficult not to smile as her eyes lit up and she practically ran to the counter to order her smoothie.

"I'd like a pink one, please."

His smile widened as he listened to her conversation with the clerk. She was so enthusiastic and insatiably curious. She wanted to know and understand everything. At times, he even found himself struggling to find answers for her. Seemed like he was doing more research to answer Vala's questions than he was doing for the SGC. She definitely made life interesting.

"What are you smiling about?" Vala plopped back down in the seat across from him. She looked over her shoulder curiously, then frowned quizzically at him.

"Nothing." He shook his head, grabbing another sip of coffee.

She sipped her smoothie and eyed him suspiciously.

He ignored her and checked the time. "We should probably get back to base."

"Ok." She pulled her coat on without a word of protest, happily drinking her smoothie. "This was so great, Daniel." She said exuberantly while he held the door open for her. "I'm so glad you brought me!"

Daniel shrugged, "It was just a donut, Vala."

She smiled sweetly as she walked over to the passenger side of the car, "It was a_ really_ good one, Daniel."

Daniel slowly opened his own door, considering the situation. It had been a nice morning, despite the rather unexpected wake up call, and the donuts had been good. But even as he tried to tell himself that it had just been a nice thing to do, he realized he'd actually_ enjoyed_ the time they'd spent talking about the mission. Shaking his head and closing his door, he asked himself,_ It was just coffee and a donut, right?_


	2. Chapter 2: It was just blue jello

**It wasn't a date. It was just blue jello.**

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"Oh, Daniel! They were so mean to me!"

Daniel looked up from his pie as Vala started exclaiming again. She'd been exclaiming all evening. Which was part of the reason he had dragged her from his office, where she'd been annoying him endlessly, to the commissary where they were just finishing dinner. The fact that she had something else with which to occupy her mouth gave Daniel at least a few seconds of peace while she chewed. He frowned, her words tuned out, as he watched her bring a spoonful of blue jello up to her mouth, then lower it when she just couldn't quite stop ranting. Every time she brought her spoon up, he'd get even more distracted by her lips.

_This is very bad._

He shook his head, realizing the lips he'd been studying so closely had just mouthed, "Are you listening to me?"

"Yes, yes." He nodded, looking down at his pie, "Listening."

"What did I just say?" Vala challenged, tilting her head and waving a spoon of wiggling blue jello in his face.

"You were complaining about what Carolyn said to you yesterday."

"No, I was..." She stopped, frowning. "You _were_ listening!"

"I usually do." He raised his eyebrows and peered at her over his glasses, "It's difficult not to."

Her features twisted to a pout and she ate her spoonful of jello huffily.

He smiled, getting another bite of pie on his fork. "Vala, next time you go out with Carolyn and Sam, call Cassie first and get her in on it. It'll be two against two."

Vala pursed her lips. "Hmm." Her eyes lit up. "Yes. And Cassandra and I will be able to make _human_ jokes instead of me being subjected to alien jokes all evening!"

Daniel nodded, trying not to roll his eyes at her. He figured she probably wouldn't appreciate him pointing out that she and Cassie were both just as human as Carolyn and Sam; they were just not from Earth. She started chattering eagerly again, but now at least she was happy. He wasn't surprised when she reached over and swapped her bowl of jello for the remainder of his pie. Simply eating his last piece of pie that was on his fork, Daniel resigned himself to the jello._ At least it's blue, _he mused. He'd been eating with Vala enough lately that he was used to her swapping desserts with him when she wanted to try something new.

He froze with the fork of jello halfway to his mouth. He could hardly believe what he'd just admitted to himself. _He was getting used to Vala_. But it was more than that; he was getting used to Vala being something he was used to. Even as he tried to unravel his confusing thoughts, he had to wonder. _When exactly had that happened?_

"Got a bug in your jello?" Vala's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"What?"

She pointed, "Your jello. What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing."

"Well eat it already, then! Watching it wobble on your fork is driving me crazy." She finished the rest of her (his) pie and started piling their dishes on the tray. "Come on."

Daniel frowned as he slowly got up. "What is your rush all of a sudden?"

"I have a date."

"A what!" Daniel stopped in his tracks, staring at the back of her head as she hurried to the tray return. He rushed to catch up with her, grabbing her elbow after she set down the tray. "You have a what?"

"A date."

"A what?"

Vala smiled sweetly and patted his cheek, "Is there an echo in here?"

"Vala." He hurried after her as she walked swiftly out of the room and headed to the elevator. "What do you mean you have a date?"

"Well, silly, why shouldn't I?" She hit the button for the elevator and bounced on her toes, her face inches from his. "I am attractive, even if I do have to say so myself."

She batted her eyes at him and Daniel was just thankful that the elevator door opened at that very moment because he felt the most overwhelming urge to kiss her. He took a slow deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart and followed her inside. "Vala."

"Daniel."

"Vala!"

"Daniel!" She said more loudly, matching his tone. "You seem to have difficulty getting past my name, darling."

Daniel felt frustration rise and suddenly he wanted to throttle her. "Vala, what exactly do you mean you have a _date_!"

"For a linguist you seem to be struggling with my very simple sentences. I have a date. With an attractive man, I might add."

"Who?"

Vala was honestly shocked to her core at how very..._jealous_ Daniel looked and sounded. She loved teasing him, but this was a surprising development. She smiled, "Why do you want to know?"

"I don't."

She grinned at his abrupt words and how he immediately turned to face the door. They were silent the rest of the way. Once the doors opened, Daniel hurried off toward his office without a word. Vala followed along, musing on his responses. Was she reading him correctly? He certainly seemed jealous._ This was very interesting._

They walked into his office to find Mitchell fiddling with a cuneiform tablet. Daniel narrowed his eyes and glared at him. "What do you think you're doing?"

Mitchell's face reflected his surprise, "Whoa, Jackson, just looking!" He quickly put the tablet back down and stepped away, hands held high. "Just looking!"

"You weren't just looking, you were touching." Daniel brushed past him irritably. "What did you need?"

"Just the Princess here."

Daniel spun back around to see Vala with her arms wrapped around Mitchell's.

Cam looked at Vala, "You ready?"

"Yup." She nodded and smiled over at Daniel. She pointed at Mitchell and mouthed, "My date."

Cam didn't know what Vala had just mouthed to Daniel, but he was getting uncomfortable with the way Jackson was glaring at him. The glare he'd started with when he'd found Cam looking at the tablet rapidly intensified. _By about a thousand_. Cam frowned and started to back away, Vala clinging to him in an unusually enthusiastic manner. He really didn't know what was up with her. He gave a quick half wave to Jackson and said, "Well, we're gonna scoot, don't want to keep Teal'c waiting."

Daniel's eyes narrowed again, "Teal'c?"

Cam paused, "Uh yeah." He watched Jackson's eyes flick back and forth between him and Vala. "We're catching a movie with him tonight."

"A movie?"

"Mmhm. A movie about a princess who is also a bride." Vala supplied.

"Teal'c is watching The Princess Bride?" Daniel asked incredulously.

"Oh yeah,_ inconceivable_!" Cam grinned, rubbing his hands.

"Oh boy." Daniel breathed.

"Come join us, Daniel!" Vala asked, releasing Mitchell's arm.

Cam couldn't say he was sorry she let go. If there was one place in the entire galaxy he did not want to be, it was in between Daniel Jackson and Vala Mal Doran and their crazy, not at all interested in one another, yet strangely inseparable, insane not quite love but something remarkably like it dance. No matter _how_ much Jackson wanted to deny there was anything going on between them, Cam had seen the murderous glare before. _On jealous boyfriends or husbands_. He was very thankful the revelation that they were only planning to watch a movie with Teal'c had released much of the palpable tension in the room. _Heaven help the poor fella who ever might think of asking Vala out on a date._

Vala was dragging Daniel out the door. "It'll be fun. Don't be such an old stick of dud."

Cam snorted.

"Stick of mud." Daniel muttered absently, finding himself halfway down the hallway without meaning to have left his office.

Cam snorted again and offered a second correction, "Stick _in the_ mud."

"Are you sure about that?" Vala questioned. "That sounds swishy."

"Nope. Nothing 'swishy' about it." Cam laughed. In fact, the most 'swishy' thing he could think of right now was the fact that Jackson hadn't made so much as a peep of protest about being dragged down the hall by Vala. That was even more 'swishy' than the thought of Teal'c watching_ The Princess Bride_.


	3. Chapter 3: It was just a cup of tea

"What's that?" Vala sniffed.

"Tea."

"Tea? As in not coffee?" She asked, frowning up at him.

"As in should feel good on your throat." Daniel explained. He sat down next to her at the briefing room table and watched her gingerly take a sip.

"Mmm. Lemony."

"It's got a bit of lemon and honey."

She smiled. "I like it."

"Good." Daniel nodded, turning his attention to his notes. He would have liked to have had a bit more time to prepare for this briefing, but he'd been preoccupied with a translation for SG-7 and had thrown his notes together in a hurry earlier in the morning. Which was why he'd ended up running late for work. Of course, stopping for coffee hadn't helped his timing. It had given him a chance to pick up a cup of tea for Vala, though. He listened to her sniff and cough and almost wanted to move away. He really didn't want to get sick. She'd been suffering with a cold for almost a week now and was completely miserable. After a moment, though, he was so engrossed in his notes that he no longer even noticed her coughs.

He also missed the very significant glances that were exchanged between Sam, Teal'c and Mitchell. Vala had her head in her hands, nose inches above her steaming cup of tea, so she wasn't noticing either.

Sam smiled at Teal'c who nodded sagely and smiled back. She watched Mitchell scribbling on his notepad and couldn't wait for him to pass his note to her. She felt laughter threatening to bubble up at the unusual atmosphere of the pre-briefing. Usually, they had very active and enthusiastic conversations before briefings. Sam knew that part of it was that Vala wasn't feeling well and Daniel had been cutting it close and was distracted.

Of course, he hadn't been so distracted that he hadn't been thinking of_ Vala_ on his way to work this morning, she mused. Sam caught Cam's wink and watched him slide his notepad over to her. Taking a quick glance at Daniel and Vala, Sam grabbed the notepad.

She only just managed to disguise her burst of laughter as a cough. Cam had scribbled:

_Why didn't he bring _me_ a cup of honey lemon tea for _my_ sore throat last week?_

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__**Coming Soon:**

**It wasn't a date. It was just the Big Dipper. **_Daniel and Vala get out of the mountain for a bit of stargazing. _

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**_Thanks for all the lovely reviews, btw! Thanks for reading. _:)  
**


	4. Chapter 4: It was just the big dipper

"Vala, _do_ you mind?" Daniel complained, his vision currently very obscured by her rear. He tilted his head slightly. _Hmm. _That wasn't actually the problem _per se._ The _problem_ was that she had stopped her upward climb on the ladder, leaving him stranded halfway up the ladder with a sprained wrist and sore ribs. Climbing a ladder was not exactly easy on his achy body in the first place; but clinging to the ladder was much, much worse.

Vala stopped her enraptured observation of the night sky and rapidly shimmied up the rest of the way, then peered down at him. "Daniel, hurry! It's so gorgeous up here!"

"The stars aren't going anywhere." He mumbled, dragging himself the rest of the way up the ladder. Why, oh why exactly was he climbing a ladder with a sprained wrist and sore ribs? He shook his head as he climbed onto the deck. Vala was already settled on a chair, eyes shining as she took in the night sky. Much as he wanted to stay annoyed, he found it very difficult as he observed Vala's excitement. He dropped into the seat next to her and slid down so his head was up against the back, giving him a good view of the panorama. Part of him was complaining that it wasn't the _first_ time he'd seen the stars; it wasn't that big of a deal and he should just close his eyes and take a nap.

The other part of him was already lost in the amazing sight as usual. Didn't matter how much time he'd spent up here over the years, it never got old.

"What's that one?"

Daniel followed Vala's finger. "The Big Dipper."

Vala looked at him strangely, "Is there a _skinny dipper_?"

His aching ribs ached even more as he laughed. She regularly caught him off guard, but sometimes she was just so darned cute in her befuddlement. Most of the time, she was genuinely confused about Earth phrases; unlike a certain Jaffa he knew. Daniel was _convinced_ that Teal'c had been doing it on purpose for many, many years. _Good old Jaffa humor._ Holding his ribs, he groaned, "Ow."

"Serves you right for laughing at me!"

"I wasn't laughing at you..." He tried to defend himself, but her pursed lips and shaking head clearly indicated what she thought of his weak lie. Shrugging, he conceded, "Sorry, but it was funny. To answer your question, no, there's no skinny dipper. As far as I know. Just the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper." He pointed the constellations out to her.

Vala settled back in the chair, staring at the stars. "Why are they called dippers?"

"Because they look like dippers, or ladles."

"Ladles?" Vala twisted her head and suddenly smiled, "Oh, _now_ I see it. They _do_ look like dippers." She was quiet for a few minutes, and then leaned forward. "Jack said you would let me see through the telescope."

"Take the cover off." He instructed, sliding his chair forward. Once she had pulled the cover off, he got closer and adjusted the dials and checked through the lens. "Ok, there you go."

Vala eagerly put her eye to the telescope, "Ooh, pretty! What is it I'm looking at, Daniel?"

"Saturn."

"Have we been there?"

"No."

"It's beautiful."

For the next 20 minutes, Daniel readjusted the telescope and pointed out other stars and planets while Vala _oohed_ and _ahed_. He felt contentment settle over him as they studied the night sky together. It was a gorgeous summer night and everyone had gathered at Jack's place for an evening barbeque. Cassie and Teal'c had relocated to the living room to continue the _Halo_ battle they had started before dinner. Jack and Sam were relaxing on the back porch with Ferretti, Lee, Carolyn and Reynolds. Cam had taken up residence on the couch with an ice pack, complaining endlessly about the agony of his bruised tailbone. His complaining had been escalating during the evening, so Daniel was confident he had decided not to follow Carolyn's orders and had instead been self-medicating with beer.

Daniel rested his head back and closed his eyes; content to listen to the crickets and the soft sounds of conversation from the porch below. Vala sat back in her chair a few moments later and asked softly, "Did you ever dream you would go to other worlds?"

Daniel didn't open his eyes. "No. You?"

"Well, travel to other worlds was much more common where I grew up, obviously." Vala explained. "But no, I never dreamed I'd go anywhere." She was silent for a long moment, then whispered, "Quetesh changed that."

Daniel shifted and studied her profile in the moonlight. It was rare to catch Vala in a pensive mood. It didn't happen often, or typically last very long, but he learned more about her in moments like these than he did at any other time. He also knew she was most vulnerable at times like these.

"Vala?" He ventured gently.

She took a deep breath. "I was scared, Daniel." She said with complete honesty. "All those years, locked up with someone else controlling my life; my _body_. I couldn't make any decisions, I couldn't control anything. I was scared and had nothing, no one. I was alone."

He nodded slowly, feeling his stomach knot up at her words. His mind automatically went back to that awful day when he'd first seen Sha're as Apophis' queen Ammonet. She must have been screaming out to him to rescue her. _Trapped in a living hell_. He frowned and shook his head, meeting Vala's gaze. Her grey eyes were a pinch misty. He felt overwhelming empathy for her. Reaching out, he squeezed her hand. She smiled sadly and squeezed back, then returned her gaze to the stars.

Despite what he knew the rest of his team was whispering behind his back, Daniel wasn't completely oblivious to the spark between him and Vala. He was at times frustrated beyond words with her, embarrassed or humiliated by her, but there were other moments, like these, that he looked forward to; when he could just simply be with her without any pressure. She was so difficult to deal with most of the time and no one could annoy him as quickly or as much. _Well, other than Jack, _he mused. But when she wasn't driving him completely crazy, she could be fun to be around.

Those long months after she'd disappeared into the Ori galaxy had been some of the worst months of his life. Looking back, all he could remember was a pervasive darkness. It had been a long time since he'd woken up with terrible nightmares, but when she'd been gone, he'd had nightmares almost every night. Seeing her again had made him happier than he could ever let on, to her or anyone else. Even so, he was being extremely careful. She was still a dangerous and manipulative woman. He trusted her with his life (_well, mostly_), but not yet with his heart. So he couldn't open up to her fully. And he definitely couldn't give anything away to his team. He knew they cared about him and wanted him happy, but this was probably his weakest and most vulnerable spot. He couldn't let himself take the chance that she wasn't in this for the long haul.

"You know the first day I felt like I was going to be ok?" Vala's soft voice interrupted his thoughts. He shook his head, her hand still in his. She grinned, "When we first met. Our first date."

"You mean when you assaulted me, kidnapped me, oh, and then beat me up a_ second_ time? It wasn't a date."

"Mmm, good times." Vala continued to grin mischievously. "When you helped me out of my little pickle I knew things were going to be ok."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." She nodded, leaning her head back against her seat. "Despite the fact that you were so terribly mean to me. I'd never been beaten up before. Most men fall all over themselves when they meet me."

"I refer you back to the assault and kidnapping."

"I didn't know if I could trust you. You seemed very suspect."

"Suspect?" Daniel asked incredulously, "How was _I_ suspect? You were the one who took over the ship and tossed the crew out like they were garbage."

"Oh, Daniel. You exaggerate."

"No, no I'm actually fairly certain that I'm not exaggerating. Just stating the facts."

"Hmmm. Technicalities." Vala remarked unconcernedly. "Do you think Cameron has passed out yet?"

Daniel snorted, "The way he was drinking last I saw, I'd say yes."

Vala made a _tsking_ noise and leaned back in her chair, drawing her legs up and pillowing her head against his shoulder. After a few moments of silence, Vala said softly, "It's nice to be here with you, Daniel."

He smiled and meant it when he said, "I'm glad you're here."

* * *

"Well? Sitrep!"

Cassie smiled at Jack's abrupt words. She squeezed onto the swing next to him. He grunted and scooted over closer to Sam. Putting his left arm around Cassie's shoulders he said, "Good thing neither of you are too hippy or we would not all fit on this swing."

"Jack!" Cassie rolled her eyes.

"Cass." He looked at her, "I repeat: well? Sitrep!"

"Lou, Bert, Bill, and Teal'c went to a midnight movie. Carolyn is crying her eyes out watching _Gone with the Wind,_ of all things."

"Oy."

"Exactly. Cam is passed out on the couch despite Carolyn's boohooing."

"And?" he prodded. "I sent you on a very _specific _mission. _And…_"

Cassie grinned, "_And_…her head is on his shoulder, his head is on hers and they're both sound asleep."

"Ha!" Jack nodded, "Knew it." He shook Sam's shoulder, "You owe me."

"Mmph?"

"Wake up. I was right."

Sam stirred slightly and muttered, "I never disagreed with you. Besides, how can I owe you? What's mine is yours, remember, sir?"

"Sir?" Jack frowned down at the blonde head on his shoulder. "You're not awake."

"Nope." She muttered and buried her head against his shoulder again.

Cassie laughed.

Jack turned his attention back to her. "They look happy?"

"They look _asleep_." Cassie laughed again, "But, seeing as they've been up there for almost four hours now, _by themselves _unsupervised without a chaperone, a referee, or a loud and violent argument, yes, I'd say they were happy."

"_Excellent." _Jack nodded. Even if it was just for tonight, everything was right in the world.

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Stay tuned for the next installment! :D Thanks for reading and reviewing!


	5. Chapter 5: It was just food poisoning

"Well?"

"He's still throwing up."

"I told him not to just go and eat whatever he found in the fridge!" Daniel said with some annoyance.

"Of course it had nothing to do with all the beer he's been drinking." Vala hopped and landed hard on the couch next to him.

"I'm sure that didn't help, but those ribs were green."

"Not green, Daniel, just slightly less than _meat_ colored."

He rolled his eyes. "It was disgusting."

"He was hungry."

"The Chinese was 10 minutes away."

Vala sighed dramatically, "Men."

Daniel looked at her with a frown, "What do you mean _men_?"

"They'll just eat anything."

"I didn't eat it! Don't sigh about the entire species just because one member isn't overly bright."

Vala snatched the remote from his hand, "Just because Cameron is puking in the bathroom doesn't mean that you can just switch to the boring channel."

"Oh? It is my house last I checked."

"I was involved in what we were watching."

"You were involved in the World Wrestling Federation fighting?"

"Yes! I happen to like looking at their..."

"Vala!"

"_Technique_." She smiled and patted his cheek. "What on earth did you think I was going to say?"

"Never mind. Just never mind."

She clicked around the channels for a few minutes. Even though she passed the channel with the wrestling several times, Daniel figured he was better off getting channel hopping induced nausea rather than having to sit next to Vala while she looked at the wrestler's _technique._

Finally, she stopped flipping channels and ended up on something he found vaguely familiar. Vala seemed quickly engrossed. It took him a few seconds until he remembered what it was they were watching. Just in time, too because Vala asked him about it when a commercial break came on. He told her, "It's the _League of Extraordinary Gentlemen._"

"That is quite a mouthful. Who are these gentlemen and why are they so extraordinary?"

"It's a compilation of several different literary characters including Alan Quartermain, Tom Sawyer, Jekyll and Hyde. They come together to fight a common enemy."

"Sounds interesting." Vala settled back into the couch as the movie started up again.

Daniel frowned, glancing over his shoulder to the hallway. He was slightly concerned about Mitchell's condition. The man had looked extremely sick when he'd made a beeline for the bathroom earlier. He was tempted to go check on him. "Vala, was he ok?"

"Shhh!" She hushed him.

He ignored her and got up. She hadn't seemed very concerned, but food poisoning wasn't exactly the common cold. They might actually need to run him to the ER. Tapping on the half closed door, Daniel poked his head inside. Mitchell was resting against the wall, looking about as lively as a wet noodle. He blinked slowly up at Daniel.

"Hey." Daniel said softly, "How are you doing?"

"Shoot me."

"I think we should take you to the ER."

Mitchell shook his head slightly. "It'll pass."

"You just asked me to shoot you. You've been puking for almost an hour."

"This isn't the first time I've had food poisoning, Jackson."

"One can hope it'll be the last time."

Mitchell nodded miserably and Daniel studied him uncertainly.

"Go away. I know you didn't want me over anyway. You just wanted an evening with Princess."

Daniel rolled his eyes, "I _told_ you not to eat those ribs. Several times. Besides,_ you're_ the one who brought her along."

Mitchell waved his hand, "Well, I guarantee I didn't do this on purpose. Go away. I'll be fine."

Shaking his head, Daniel backed away, "Holler if you change your mind."

He headed back to the living room, finding Vala on the edge of her seat.

"Daniel! Daniel, get over here and explain this to me!" She was bouncing on the couch and waving her arms.

He sat back down and found himself peppered with questions. It took the rest of the movie and two hours after the movie for him to explain the back stories of all the characters. Vala was completely fascinated and wasn't satisfied until he'd promised to take her to the library to check out some of the books. The only book he actually had on hand was _Dracula_. She'd been engrossed in it ever since. Glancing at his watch, he realized it was nearly two in the morning. He'd made coffee earlier when it had become clear that Vala didn't intend to leave. _Or sleep_. Mitchell had managed to crawl to the hallway before collapsing in exhaustion.

On her way to make her second bag of popcorn, Vala had thrown a blanket over him and tucked a pillow under his head. Sipping the last of his cold coffee, Daniel looked back down at his notes. He'd been working on translations since Vala had started reading. She'd been asking him questions off and on, but he'd been getting a lot accomplished.

When she snuggled closer to him, piled under her blankets, Daniel automatically put his left arm around her and just kept working. A few minutes passed, then she broke the silence. "Daniel?"

"Hm?"

"Look at this." She pointed to a paragraph in the book and Daniel peered down at the passage.

_"God grant that no such time may ever come to you to break the sunshine of your life,_

_but if it should ever come, promise me that you will let me know."_

He frowned, "What about it?"

"It's a beautiful sentiment. Would you let me know if you ever needed anything? If something terrible happened and you needed a friend?"

Daniel considered her words. He was a bit surprised by the entire situation. He shrugged, "Sure." That came fairly easily, but he had to take a few seconds to gather his courage to say, "And you'd let me know, right?"

He felt her nod against his shoulder and she said softly, "I would."

"Good." He said as she turned back to her book. He felt surprisingly content with her reading next to him. Who would have thought _Dracula_ could have brought them even that little bit closer?

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**So, I'm totally enjoying _Dracula_. :D That's why he got a bit part in this story...i'm hooked on it! Hope you enjoyed this little snippet. I'll try hard not to be so mean to poor Cam in the future. More to come...can't promise what comes next 'cuz I've got several ideas... Stay tuned! Thanks for all the lovely reviews, as always they are MUCH appreciated! **

**Anyone participating in NaNoWriMo? I'm frantically writing a new original novel for that...and trying to keep up with this little story as well as not get behind on my next Stargate novel! :) Happy writing everyone!**


	6. Chapter 6: It was just two friends

**_It was just two friends and coworkers out for dinner. _**_(follows Momento Mori.)_

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He was never going to live it down.

Never, never ever. _Not in a million years._

Daniel rubbed his head. What had he been thinking?

"What was I thinking?" he said aloud to his empty office. He'd been sitting silently in his office for the past hour. Ever since Vala had flounced out, ecstatic about her new SG1 patches, having basically proclaimed _in front of everyone_ that they'd been out on a date.

"Which just isn't true." He said aloud.

He buried his head in his hands; disturbed at the situation in general _and _at the fact that he was continually talking aloud to himself.

What had he been thinking?

He clearly _hadn't_ been thinking. If he'd been thinking, he would have realized that taking Vala out to a nice restaurant was a terrible, terrible idea. If he'd been thinking, he would have just taken her to a simple, casual restaurant. _Like McDonalds_. He should have known better than to take her to a _fancy_ restaurant. Things had been going so well between them that he'd wanted to do something nice for her. She had been working hard at being a team player. Even though she was still driving him crazy on a daily basis, there were a lot of positive changes in her behavior. It actually scared him. Scared him that he was starting to allow himself to believe that maybe, just maybe she wasn't playing him. So he had given into weakness and asked her out to dinner.

Of course his plans had gone very awry when she'd been kidnapped. Daniel groaned and let his head hit the desk. Could it have gone any worse? He really didn't think so. It hadn't been a date, but even so, he couldn't think of a way the evening could have been more of a disaster. Shaking his head, still against the desk, he groaned again and tried to think clearly. What was he going to do now? Now that Vala had it in her head they'd been on a date? His stomach did a flip. That wasn't what it had been, was it? _Oh crap_. Now he was doubting himself. _Had it been a date?_ No, no it had just been two friends and coworkers out for dinner. Nothing more. It was all Jack's stupid fault for suggesting it in the first place.

Daniel couldn't think straight; he was exhausted. It seemed like forever since he'd slept. That awful moment when she'd vanished had ensured sleepless, tortured nights ever since. It had started out so simply and fallen apart so spectacularly.

He was relieved beyond words that Vala was safe and back to normal. Breathing yet another sigh of relief, Daniel couldn't help but think back to that moment when she'd finally remembered. He'd been fairly confident she wasn't going to shoot him when he'd confronted her in the warehouse, but he'd been terrified she wouldn't regain her memories. Seeing the lost and frightened look on her face, he'd been reminded of that awful period after he'd returned from being Ascended. He had known _exactly_ how she had been feeling. That she'd regained her memory so relatively easily had been incredible. His heart still thudded when he thought back to the moment when she had said his name and he'd known she remembered everything.

Daniel sat up suddenly. Was it because she'd remembered everything that he was so glad or was it because of the way she'd said _his_ name at that pivotal moment? His stomach did another flip. Rationalizing that it had only been because he was the one talking to her at that moment and not because she had any particular feelings for him, Daniel nodded and looked desperately around the room for something, _anything_ to work on that would offer a distraction. _Nothing._ No matter where he looked, everything was done. He'd been so focused the past few days that no one had been bringing him anything to work on so he had absolutely nothing to do.

_Great_.

He was about to run for the door and just head home when a looming presence appeared in the doorway. Teal'c was standing there, dressed in his civvies with a fedora on his head. Daniel wasn't in the slightest surprised. Teal'c had a hat collection that would rival most women's shoe collections.

"Daniel Jackson."

With a sigh, he forced a smile, "Teal'c?"

"Are you not preparing to depart for our celebratory dinner? I believe Colonel Mitchell made some reference to it being his treat."

It was the last, absolute _last_ thing he wanted to do, but Daniel knew he couldn't get out of it. It was too important to Vala, and especially on top of what she'd just been through, he couldn't do that to her. He pushed himself to his feet slowly, again realizing how exhausted he was.

Teal'c tilted his head, "You seem troubled."

"Just a bit tired. It's been a rough week."

"Indeed. Which is why this evening is so important. Vala Mal Doran is quite excited. She has been telling everyone she meets in the hallways about her new position on SG-1." Teal'c smiled slightly.

Daniel returned the smile, knowing exactly how enthusiastic she could be. "Well, I'm happy for her, she's earned it."

"I agree. Although I found her most difficult at first, I have come to enjoy her company. She is lively. Shall we go?"

"Sure." Daniel followed Teal'c down the hall and into the elevator. "I just need to change. Meet you guys up top?"

"That would be acceptable." Teal'c nodded. "Vala Mal Doran said that despite having been kidnapped, she had enjoyed your date last week."

"It _wasn't a date_." Daniel said through gritted teeth.

Teal'c simply raised an eyebrow as Daniel stepped off the elevator to run to the locker room. As the doors closed behind him, Daniel turned back abruptly, "She said she enjoyed it?"

All he got for an answer was Teal'c's knowing (and annoying) smile.

* * *

He wasn't in any way asleep, but the ringing of his phone still was jarring in the deep quiet of the early morning hour. Glancing at his watch, which he couldn't see in the dark, Daniel fumbled with the stuff on his end table until he found his cell. _0330_. Early. Very early. He groaned as his bleary eyes adjusted enough for him to see the name on the caller ID.

Jack.

Great. What on earth did Jack want at 0330?

"Jack?" he mumbled sleepily.

"You didn't call."

"What?"

"I've heard from everyone _but_ you."

"Heard about what?" Daniel let himself slide sideways on the couch. Good thing it was Saturday. He wasn't going anywhere.

"Vala. You got her back; she got her marbles back. Stuff like that generally is reported to the General."

"Sorry, Jack."

"Slipped your mind, did it?"

"It's been busy around here."

"Not so busy that you didn't call me several times a day this past week to tell me what you guys were doing to find her."

"Mitchell took us out to this new rib place to celebrate and it got late."

"Uh huh. She giddy over her new patches?"

Daniel smiled, "You have no idea."

"Oh, all I have to do is picture you when you were getting ready to go on the _Prometheus_ to Atlantis that first time. I know _exactly_ how she looked."

"Funny."

"Say, isn't that the time you first met her?" Jack's voice had that false innocence that Daniel just hated.

"You know it is." He answered suspiciously. He decided to side track Jack before it got worse, "Why are you up at 0330?"

"0530."

Daniel groaned, "Right."

"Why are _you_ up at 0330?"

"I wasn't up. You woke me up."

"No I didn't."

"Yes, you did."

"No, I didn't."

"Did."

"Didn't."

"Did."

"Didn't."

"Am I really doing this with a General in the United States Air Force? Because somehow that just seems so wrong." Daniel mused aloud.

"So anyway, why exactly were you up?"

Groaning again, Daniel put his feet up on the couch and stared at the dark ceiling. After eleven years, he had long ago stopped wondering how Jack could read his mind. He muttered, "I was working."

"Ha." Jack snorted. "More like moping, I'm betting."

"I do not mope."

"I have eleven years worth of examples. Teal'c could list them chronologically." Jack offered helpfully. "Just spit it out, Daniel, for crying out loud! What is your problem?"

"Vala." Daniel surprised even himself with how quickly and easily he admitted that.

"Figured as much. Would you just stop doing a better job of torturing yourself than any Goa'uld could ever have done? It's glaringly obvious to everyone in the galaxy that you are nuts about the woman." At Daniel's persistent silence, Jack went on, a bit more gently. "Talk to me."

It took almost three minutes before Daniel could even gather his thoughts. Jack was silent the entire time, waiting, encouraging him with his silence. Finally Daniel said, "It's just that, I mean, the way she is always just being so...so...I don't know. She is infuriating and she just acts like, like...this _predator_ all the time. Even when...when things are going better, I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop, you know? For her to turn on me and... I don't know, be inappropriate. It's embarrassing, Jack. There are times, every once in a while, where I do wonder, you know, if there might be...a chance, but it's just not gonna happen."

Two time zones away and a few hundred miles east, Jack set his coffee cup down and studied the sunrise, pursing his lips as he thought. He could all too easily hear the distress in his friend's voice. To the casual observer at the SGC, the Daniel and Vala "non"-relationship could easily look like something out of a comedy. However, Jack knew this wasn't the slightest bit funny to Daniel. Jack had a feeling it wasn't all that funny to Vala, either. But the two of them had yet to find their common, neutral ground; or if they had found it, they hadn't been able to settle down long enough start building anything before one or the other got scared off and ran back to their own corner of the war zone. Jack had a lot of experience in life and was a good judge of character. He wasn't an expert on anything mathematical, but he didn't need Carter to tell him that Daniel plus Vala equaled happiness. The question was just how to assist the two of them over the very bumpy road toward that outcome. He couldn't push either of them. Jack had a good idea that Vala was only staying at the SGC for one reason, and one reason alone. She was dealing with things the only way she knew how and Jack could give her the benefit of the doubt. But he knew Daniel was extremely fragile in this area and it wouldn't take much to make him shut himself away from Vala completely.

But he'd seen a difference in Daniel; starting with that very first encounter on the failed trip to Atlantis. That whole year when he'd been the General in charge of the SGC, he'd noticed that, overall, Daniel seemed to be revitalized and enthusiastic about his work in a way he hadn't been for what seemed like a long time. But after the _Prometheus_ hijacking, he'd seemed even more...alive. For weeks after the event, he had continually, almost daily brought up the situation and Jack had wondered at the time if he would ever hear the end of Daniel's complaining about the mysterious Vala Mal Doran. _Apparently not_. In the time since she'd first waltzed through the Earth gate, Jack had been around her enough to get to know her pretty well. Of course, he heard enough of the gossip from Teal'c to have a good idea of what was going on. He'd also been around both of them enough to know that they were absolutely crazy about each other. He took a deep breath and knew he had to say something.

"Give her a chance."

"You think I haven't? What do you think I've been doing?"

Jack had hit a nerve, that was for sure. "I know you have. I'm just saying, give it more time. Don't give up. Daniel, she's stuck around at the SGC for all this time. What's she really getting out of it?"

Silence.

"She could be out there doing what she's always done." Jack went on, "Cheating, stealing, conning gullible people everywhere. But she isn't. She's staying in one place, something it doesn't sound like she's done much of, and she's trying to be an asset to the program." Jack took a chance, "Give it more time. People don't change overnight. But I think she's putting in a good effort."

"I know."

"So chill. Go with the flow. Let it be. _Que sera, sera_. One step at a time. Yadda, yadda, yadda."

Daniel took a deep breath. _Easy for you to say._ He rubbed his eyes, suddenly feeling like he might actually be able to sleep.

"You still there?"

"Mmhm."

"Well are you glad you did it?"

"Huh?" Daniel's brain felt like mush. Certainly not up to dealing with Jack and his abrupt turns to left field. "Did what?"

"Took her out to dinner."

"Worst decision of my life."

Jack snorted, "Oh no. I know all about your worst decisions and that was most definitely not your _worst_ decision ever."

"Whatever. Leave me alone. Go bother someone else. It's Saturday morning, Jack." Daniel was well aware that he was whining. "Call Teal'c; there was a Star Wars marathon starting at midnight. I'm sure he's up."

"Oh, I already talked to him. He told me the same thing, only he used some very rude words. I guess he really wasn't happy I interrupted the birth of Luke and Leia."

Daniel shook his head, "Jack, why the heck were you even up?"

"I was worried."

"What? Why? I thought you said everyone had already told you we found Vala."

"Yeah they did. I wasn't worried about _Vala_." Jack said, rolling his eyes. Sometimes Daniel could be pretty dense.

"What? Oh. Wait, what? Why? Oh." Daniel pounded a fist on his forehead. He was waaay to tired for this.

"So, you ok?"

"Yeah, Jack. I'm ok."

"Good. Then would you please go to sleep? I've got things to do, I can't just keep talking to you all day, you know."

Daniel smiled, already half asleep. "Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"Welcome."

* * *

Jack smiled as he hung up the phone. He finished the rest of his coffee and shook his head, debating making another cup. He was distracted from that thought almost before he finished thinking it. He heard a soft voice calling his name from the other end of the apartment. Making his way down the hall, he grinned at the sleepy face peering up at him from under the covers.

"He ok?"

"He's fine."

"Told you."

"He wasn't fine till _after_ we talked."

Sam glared at him. "If I had known you were going to be up all night worrying about him, I would not have flown out here in the middle of the night." She twisted the rings on her left hand and sighed dramatically. "I guess now I know what it's like to be a mother."

Jack sat down next to her, "Up all night worrying about your children and their romantic misadventures."

"That and never getting to see my husband." She pulled him closer. "I heard you tell Daniel you had things to do."

"Yep."

She kissed him, "What things?"

"Oh, you know. Things."

"Uh huh. Well, get busy, General O'Neill. I don't have all day."

* * *

Hope you enjoyed! This one certainly got away from me and went in directions I never imagined. :D Thanks, as always for reading and reviewing!


	7. Chapter 7: It was just Home Depot

**Wow...been awhile since I updated. :) A bit too much craziness after NaNoWriMo and then Finals. This one has been on the front burner for a long time so here it finally is! Enjoy. **

* * *

**It wasn't a date. It was just Home Depot.**

Daniel grabbed Vala's elbow and tried to redirect her aimless wandering. She resisted for a moment, pointing back the way she had been trying to go.

"Daniel! Look at those…those over there."

"Yes," he said absently, scanning the aisle ahead. "We aren't here for a cactus."

"Cactus?" She repeated, turning to face him.

"A type of desert plant."

"Can we look at the plants? I've never seen a desert plant."

"You just did. And no."

"Why not?" She whined as he leaned down to grab a box of nails off of a lower shelf.

"Because Jack does not need plants. Desert or otherwise."

"He needs nails?"

"He needs a lot of things." Daniel mumbled, consulting his very long list. He still wasn't sure how _he_ had gotten roped into being the one who got the _very long_ list.

Vala crossed her arms, feeling her irritation fade a tiny bit as she chose to focus on something that always made her smile. Daniel_._ Tilting her head slightly, she smiled and listened indulgently as he muttered irritably about how long the list was and how he couldn't find the right nails. Finally, he found the box and stood up, smiling triumphantly. His smile instantly disappeared when he saw the look on her face.

"What?" he frowned at her, having the suspicion that he didn't really want to know.

"Nothing." She grinned innocently. She bounced on her feet. "What's next, darling?"

"Next we need shingles. Or two by fours. Whichever we see first."

As they roamed the halls of the home improvement mega store, Daniel was kept busy explaining what they needed and why. Vala had a lot of life experience, but it seemed any kind of building or handiwork of this sort was not her strong suit. He had to continually pull Vala along when she got distracted. By _pink_. Seemed like every aisle she found something pink. _What on earth was up with pink in a hardware store_? What was worse was that she tended to _grab_ the pink. At one point he had the nails and the shingles in the cart along with pink screwdrivers, pink duct tape, pink gloves, pink wrenches and pink pliers. He'd made her choose one thing and she'd picked the pink duct tape…something that put a great deal of fear into his heart. Vala and duct tape just seemed like a very dangerous idea.

She helped him load the boards into the cart, and then looked over their supplies dubiously. "I don't think we have the right stuff, Daniel."

"What? Why not?" He turned from his distracted scanning of his list. He looked at the supplies "We've got everything on the list. Plus more."

"That is not going to build a house." She gave him a patronizing look.

"You're right." Daniel laughed. "It's going to build a shed."

"General O'Neill said house." Vala protested.

"General O'Neill says lots of stuff." Daniel rolled his eyes as he pushed the cart toward the front of the building. Before he could get very far, though, Vala squealed again and took off at a run. Sighing, Daniel just turned the cart and followed her silently this time. He had already been hollering her name the entire time they'd been in the store.

Catching up to her, he realized quickly what had caught her eye. The kitchen displays. He had to smile as he watched her opening cupboards and exclaiming giddily. She looked cute with her hair up in a ponytail, a faded pink plaid shirt over a pink sequined tank top, and those faded jeans. He shook his head, realizing he was staring at her a bit too closely for his own comfort. She was also calling his name.

"Daniel! Come look at this, isn't this marvelous?"

Daniel moved around the counter and glanced down at the drawer she was _oohing_ and _ahhing_ over. He listened indulgently as she chattered about the amazing organization and beautiful features of the kitchen. Leaning against the counter, he watched her open the fridge, then twirl and grin at him. He didn't even realize at first that he was grinning back at her. There was something just so adorable about the way she moved around the display kitchen.

She leaned back against the refrigerator, directly across from him. She smiled at him coyly, wondering why he was staring at her so intently. It wasn't the first time in recent days that she had noticed him staring at her so intently. He actually was doing that rather frequently lately.

Vala tilted her head. "What?"

"You can use my kitchen."

Vala blinked, completely confused, "Uh. What?" She watched as he fidgeted, obviously and suddenly nervous. She smiled and exerted all her willpower to not take a step closer to him. "Daniel?"

He took a deep breath and said, "If you want to bake or cook something...I mean, clearly you like kitchens." Daniel kicked himself mentally. _What an idiot._ "So if you want to...you could always come over sometime. I don't use it much."

"Oh, yes! That would be lovely." Vala grinned and clapped her hands, bouncing on her toes. In point of fact, she hadn't cooked since she had been a little girl and bake...hmm, baking. She had been watching some cooking shows in the evenings with Teal'c lately and she had to admit she was curious about the making and baking of _cupcakes_. A tiny personal cake sounded like a wonderful idea to her. But she wasn't going to tell Daniel that she didn't know anything about baking and cooking. "Thank you, darling! I would like that very much."

Daniel smiled back, feeling relieved. "Good. So, shall we go?"

"To your kitchen?" Vala asked, grabbing his arm.

"No. Back to Jack's place. He's gonna wonder where all of his supplies are."

"Ok. So when can I come over?"

"Umm..." Daniel frowned. When, in his moment of weakness, he had offered her the use of his kitchen, he hadn't reckoned on her wanting to come over just yet. "Well..."

"Tonight?"

"Maybe not..."

"This weekend?"

"Maybe."

She squealed, "Oh goody; it's a date!"

"No, it's not a date." Daniel said immediately, pushing the cart toward the front of the store.

"Is."

"Isn't."

"Is."

"Isn't."

"Well it _would_ be if you bought me flowers." She grinned at him and batted her eyes.

"You want to run back and get a cactus?" He said sarcastically and really shouldn't have been surprised when she immediately turned and ran in the opposite

direction. _Apparently she _did _want a cactus. _He sighed and waited just short of the line until he saw her skipping back toward him, her cactus in her hand and a grin on her face. He shook his head as she pointed a finger at her plant.

"_Now_ it's a date!" She pronounced.

He rolled his eyes, "No, it was just a trip to Home Depot."

"Just keep telling yourself that, Danny boy, just keep telling yourself that." Vala muttered quietly, doing her best impression of the General as she put her cactus on the conveyor.

Daniel just smiled to himself and pretended he hadn't heard her.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed! I needed a bit of joy and sweetness after the tragedy of last Friday. Blessings!**


	8. Chapter 8: It was just an apology

**What happened _above_ the rock. **

Sam grinned. She adjusted her sunglasses and rested her arms on her P90 as she observed Daniel and Vala. They were both on their backs in the sand; half hidden under the edge of the broken rock shard of the ruin that Daniel was attempting to examine and translate. In fact, all she could see of either of them was from their belts down.

Vala was sliding her legs side to side, almost as if she were making a snow angel. Every once in a while, she'd leave her leg up against Daniel's. To Sam's amusement, Vala would tap her boot against his. After a moment, he would tap back at her boot with a bit of force, then he would scoot his legs a bit farther away from her. It wasn't long before he would end up repositioning himself closer and the scene would repeat itself.

_Several times._

Sam couldn't help but wonder exactly how much work was actually being accomplished under there. Of course, her imagination was letting itself run away with her as she wondered what else might be going on under there. They were awfully close to one another.

"You have a dirty mind, Sam."

Sam shook herself out of her daze and glared at Mitchell. "What are you talking about?"

"You know. You're trying to figure out if she's kissed him yet."

"Cam!"

"Or vice versa." He tilted his head to the side, noting with amusement that their hips were touching.

"Just because you have a dirty mind doesn't mean I do…" Sam protested, even as she leaned forward for a better view as Vala abruptly rolled onto her right side and sidled up even closer to Daniel. "Oh boy."

"You got that right!" Cam shook his head, "That girl is takin' her life in her hands! What the heck is she up to?"

"Who knows." Sam frowned, shocked that Daniel hadn't immediately moved away from Vala. She frowned, thinking back to Cam's words earlier. It kind of looked like they were in a pretty good position to be kissing…

Surely not! Sam shook her head again. She couldn't believe it. Over the next few minutes, her imagination tried its hardest to move in that direction. Suddenly, though, they could hear indistinct raised voices and Vala rolled away and crawled out from under the ruin, her face a picture of anger.

"Hoo-boy!" Cam shook his head, grinning. "That doesn't look good."

Vala stalked toward a small rock they had been using as a makeshift table. She grabbed a hammer and a notebook off the table, then returned to Daniel's side. She stood there for a moment, then threw the notebook down on Daniel's stomach. Cam held his breath, knowing she had a hammer in her other hand. He waited to see what she was going to do with it and only breathed easier once she dropped to her knees and pushed the hammer under the shelf.

Sam exchanged a glance with Cam. Often she had wished she could be a fly on the wall and this was one of those times. She admitted, "I would _love_ to know what just happened."

"You and me both. I think she tried to kiss him and he chewed her out for it." Cam adjusted his ball cap.

"I don't know, Cam."

"Come on, that was what it looked like. She rolled up against him in the perfect position for a smooch."

"But she's the one who looked furious."

"Yeah, 'cuz he yelled at her."

"We don't know that."

"So what do you think happened?" Cam challenged.

"I'm sure there's a perfectly logical explanation." Sam said, but had no idea what that logical explanation might be. She looked back down the hill and saw that Vala was sitting down next to the rock shelf, that look of irritation still on her face.

They watched for a few more minutes then Cam shrugged. "I'm gonna go check in with the big guy." When Sam nodded, he went on, "Let me know if any obvious making out occurs."

Sam rolled her eyes, "I'll be sure to let you know."

* * *

**What happened_ under_ the rock.**

She was doing it again. Swinging her legs like she was making a snow angel. Daniel tried to ignore her and focus on cleaning off the accumulated dust on the writing he was attempting to decipher. After another minute of her kicking his boot, he kicked her back, hard. It didn't do him a lot of good. They had been going through this cycle for nearly an hour now. If it wasn't for the fact that she was actually being helpful in deciphering some of the colloquial Goa'uld on the stone, he would have kicked her out a long time ago. Teal'c could have done it, of course, but for some reason he had made himself scarce. Daniel grimaced as she kicked him again. He wasn't going to easily forgive Teal'c for forcing him to work with Vala.

"Will you stop it!" He finally lost his temper as she kicked him again.

"Daniel!" She whined. Her whining was short lived, though, and she asked, "What do you think they're talking about up there?"

"Who?"

"Samantha and Mitchell, of course. I bet they're talking about us."

Daniel paused his mental translation and looked over at her, "What?"

"I bet they're up there even now, gossiping about you and me."

"Why?"

"Because we're down here together. Under a rock."

"So? We do translations all the time." Daniel said, refocusing on the phrase above his head.

Vala smiled to herself at his confusion. She always enjoyed times like these; times when he was completely oblivious to her insinuations. It was fun when he knew she was leading him on and got all frustrated, but it was also cute when he didn't quite _get_ it. She rolled over on her side and scooted up close to him, a hand on his arm. "Daniel."

"What are you doing?" Daniel snapped his head over and they were almost nose to nose.

"Hi." Vala grinned. "I'm bored."

Daniel narrowed his eyes. "Vala. Why are you so..."

"Bored?" She cut him off.

"No. So _close_ to me?"

"Just giving them something to talk about up there."

"Well stop it will ya? We've got work to do."

"Oh, Daniel, we've been at it for hours. These scribbles aren't telling us anything important. They're just a list of names. Some sort of memorial you said. Who really cares about the scribbles of a bunch of people who lived a billion years ago?"

"I do. Right now, at this moment, I do. Get me the notebook and the hammer please. There's some build up of sediment here I need to get rid of."

"Why are you always bossing me around?"

"I can't help it if I happen to be the only one who has some sense of responsibility."

"I have a sense of responsibility."

"Clearly dulled by years of thievery."

"Hey." Vala glared at him. "That was mean."

"How is it mean? You're always bringing up your less than legal skill set."

"That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt when someone else makes a joke out of it." She said, a bit more loudly.

"I wasn't making a joke out of it!" He frowned at her. "I was just saying..."

"That I'm a crook and not responsible."

Not knowing why he was getting so frustrated, Daniel raised his voice, "If the boot fits!"

"You can be a complete jerk, you know that?"

"So I've been told. You can be immature and annoying."

"What is this? Name calling time?"

"Get me the notebook and hammer, please, and we can stop the name calling."

Vala called him a very ugly name as she slithered away from him out from under the rock.

* * *

Daniel tried to refocus on the writing on the rock above him. It was no use. He couldn't think. Couldn't think about anything except Vala. Why exactly was that, he wondered? She was being such a pest. Not to mention a bit of a brat right now. She'd been distracting him all afternoon and she always wanted to mock whatever he project he was working on at the moment. It was endlessly irritating and again he was wishing Teal'c had not wandered off. He felt the notebook hit his stomach and held his breath until the hammer slid under the rock. He'd been more than a little nervous that she was going to be less restrained with the tool. Picking up the notebook, he sighed. He couldn't focus. He was still irritated, but he was also feeling more than a little pang of regret for what he had said to Vala. It wasn't always obvious, but Vala wasn't as tough as she liked to make it seem. It was far too easy to inadvertently hurt her. He looked out from under the rock shelf and could see her sitting there, just out of reach.

* * *

Vala ran a hand across her forehead. It was hot, dry and she was miserable. It had been a long day. She had begged Teal'c to find some excuse to wander away so she could help Daniel with the translation. They hadn't had a simple mission in quite awhile. It was always exhausting dealing with the Ori and feeling like they were never going to make any kind of difference. Add to that the fact that she knew Daniel blamed himself for the Ori even knowing about their galaxy and it was little wonder he was typically so tense. She had hoped this would be a pleasant mission. But she always had to mess things up. That was what she did. Always messed things up. The last thing Vala wanted to do was make Daniel mad or disappoint him. Of course it wasn't one sided this maddening and disappointing that went on, Vala mused. He knew how to make her furious and was more than capable of saying things that made her heart break. She might as well give up on having any kind of a happy ending.

Daniel slid out from under the rock. He moved over to sit next to Vala, wiping his face with his sleeve. He stared across the sandy plain ahead of them. Neither spoke for several minutes. Studying her out of the corner of his eye, Daniel could tell she was upset. Trying to hide it and act like she wasn't mad and hurt and disappointed in him. He nudged her shoulder with his own and looked at her.

"_In words of love, perhaps a fool can find solace. A truer heart seeks not words but a peaceful soul with whom the weary may find respite."_

Vala turned to Daniel, an expression of confusion on her face. She was still ticked at him and hurt and didn't really want to talk to him, but as usual, she couldn't help herself. "What's that? Your attempt at an apology?"

"Maybe." Daniel said, returning his gaze to the plain. "It was part of the writing I've been working on all day. "Written by a woman who lived about seventy years ago."

"Why did she write it?"

"She was mourning her husband's death."

Vala frowned, "That's sad. How did he die?"

"Apparently he had done what he could to protect their home world from a nearby warring tribe that was taking over their planet. The war didn't go well and their world was taken over despite his efforts."

"He was killed?"

"He died of a broken heart."

"You can't die of that." Vala mocked, even though her own heart wasn't in it.

Daniel took a slow breath and rubbed the sand off his hands. He said quietly, "Actually, you can."

Vala studied him for a moment and felt a pang of sorrow so intense it nearly knocked her over. She bit her lip for a few seconds, continuing to consider his profile. There was sadness haunting his features and her heart ached for the losses they had both endured over the years. Maybe that was part of why she was hanging around still. Sometimes the stars called to her with such desire that she almost couldn't keep her feet grounded to the soil of Earth. But still she didn't, _couldn't,_ leave. Daniel's words, the grief-stricken widow's words actually, came back to her at that moment. _A truer heart seeks not words but a peaceful soul with whom the weary may find respite._ Maybe that was why she never quite made it all those times she tried to leave Earth. Because she'd found _respite_. Maybe her true heart had found the peaceful soul she'd been seeking all these years.

"Apology accepted." She said with a smile, enjoying that sudden feeling of peace that overcame her.

Daniel nodded slowly, still staring at the distant horizon.

"Now what?" She squeezed his arm. "Now that we've made up and all that."

He shrugged. "Go home."

She frowned, "Really? You're done with the translation?"

"There's more, but, like you said, it's scribbles from..."

"A person who lived, and who was important." Vala interrupted him. "Not every mission has to be about saving the galaxy. Sometimes, every once in awhile, a mission is about remembering someone else who tried to save the world, their world."

Their eyes met and Daniel felt something relax inside him. He smiled. "So, back to work?"

"Yes, lets!" She immediately crawled back under the rock.

Daniel joined her and lay back on the sand, their shoulders touching. It wasn't crowded. It was comfortable.

* * *

"So? Any juicy happenin's?"

Cam's chipper voice interrupted Sam's continued monitoring of the situation down in the little valley. She turned as he and Teal'c joined her. Shaking her head she said, "Not too much. They've just been sitting next to each other talking for awhile."

"Kissin'?"

"No."

"Heated arguments?"

"No, just sitting there talking."

Cam looked down. "They're back under the rock."

"Mmhm." Sam nodded.

"So they _could_ be under there kissin' right now..."


	9. Chapter 9: It was just a cupcake

**I'm back! :) Enjoy...**

* * *

Daniel studiously ignored the sounds of things falling and crashing in the kitchen. He just didn't want to know. Didn't want to see what kind of a mess Vala was making out there. He reached for another reference on the shelf and concentrated on the books in front of him. When he had suggested Vala come use his kitchen from time to time, he hadn't planned on her pestering him to let her come over every week. Should have planned on it, but hadn't. Things had finally worked out between their scheduled missions and everything else they had going on, which was why he was hiding in his office trying to ignore the muttering and muffled thumps he was hearing from the kitchen.

Vala had said she loved baking, wanted to bake Earth delicacies and had spent the last week on his computer picking out recipes, making shopping lists, and just getting in his way. Sighing, he rubbed his head, grateful that it was soon to be over. She would make her cookies or whatever it was she was making and he could take her back to the mountain. Although, with the cart of groceries she had picked up on their way over, he was afraid she was going to be baking for a very long time to come. She had shooed him out of the kitchen as soon as he'd finished helping her carry in all twenty-two bags of groceries. He was fine with that. If she was in the kitchen, she wasn't bugging him. Although it did seem to be taking her a very long time to bake cookies.

* * *

Vala chewed her lip and looked down at her creations with her hands on her hips. Something wasn't right about that. Something wasn't right at all. The picture showed miniature cakes, all pink and moist. They had started out all pink and such, but now they just looked like little brown bricks. Well, black. Some of them were the color of coal. And they didn't smell too good either, she sighed, wrinkling up her nose in disapproval. Wonderful. Another batch wasted. Good thing she had bought plenty of baking supplies.

Tipping the second tray of bricks into the garbage, Vala hoped Daniel had his nose buried in a book and that he wasn't smelling the burned cupcakes. She had such a lovely bowl of frosting just waiting to go on some cupcakes if she could ever get them to come out right. Vala stuck a finger in the frosting and enjoyed the sugary goodness while surveying the mess before her. Heaven help her if Daniel came out to the kitchen any time soon. He would probably throttle her. Bowls and silverware and flour and mixing cups and batter and burned cupcakes were scattered all around. The only thing she'd done right so far was the frosting.

And _that_ was actually quite delicious.

But she couldn't just serve him frosting. That wouldn't do. She had led him to believe she loved baking, loved cooking and he had been ever so sweet to offer her his kitchen. Feeling a pang of remorse, Vala knew she should have asked Sam or Carolyn for advice on baking before starting this endeavor. On second thought, perhaps Muscles would have been the best one to have asked. The thought of calling him crossed her mind, but she was determined to make these little cakes in the cups by herself.

So she reached for the milk and eggs. Time to start another batch.

* * *

Daniel was starving and his stomach finally rebelled against his brain. He stretched and glanced at his watch. Almost two in the afternoon. He double checked in surprise. He'd been working steadily for four hours without even noticing the time passing. No wonder he was hungry. As he marked his place in his book, Daniel realized it had been very quiet in the kitchen. He wasn't quite sure how long it had been quiet, but somewhere along the lines, all the crashing and smashing had stopped. Silence could be a good thing and then again, silence could be a very bad thing. Especially with Vala. So he left his office quickly, feeling just a slight bit of concern at how oblivious he had been. She could have burned the house down around him and he wouldn't even have noticed.

Sniffing the air, Daniel's concern grew as he picked up on the faint scent of something burning. Or burnt. Whatever it was, it didn't smell good and it didn't smell like cookies. Just before he rounded the corner to the kitchen, he realized he could hear soft crying. Someone trying very hard to sniff quietly, but not doing a very good job of it at all. His heart hit his throat and he rushed around the corner, afraid that Vala had burned her hand or cut off a finger or...

"Vala!" He found her sitting with her back against the counter, a bowl next to her and flour covering her face, hair, and clothes. He knelt in front of her, a hand on her shoulder, eyes searching for injuries or wounds, "Are you all right?"

She looked up at him, nodded, then her eyes, already teary, flooded to overflowing and she buried her face in her hands.

"Vala." Daniel sat down next to her, eyes quickly surveying the kitchen. He grimaced and tried to ignore the scene of what looked like the worst cupcake massacre in human history. "Vala, what is it?"

Her mumbled words were too soft to hear, but her crying picked up a few notches.

Rubbing her shoulder, feeling a bit awkward, Daniel tried again, "What happened? Why are you crying?"

One hand came away from her face and pointed blindly around the room.

"Well, yes, I can see it's a bit of a mess, but that's ok..."

"No, it's not!" She looked up at him suddenly, anger flashing in her eyes, "It's not ok, Daniel."

He sat back and frowned as she folded her arms and glared at him. He had no idea what to say to her. She was clearly upset but he had absolutely no idea of what to say to her that wouldn't make things worse. "Vala, it's not a big deal..."

Her head went back to her hands and she wailed loud enough to make him cringe.

_Wrong thing to say_.

Daniel sighed and slid closer to her, putting his arm around her shoulders. He figured keeping his mouth shut for the time being might be the safest course of action. Surrounded by the chaos of a bakery explosion, holding onto a sobbing woman who most days made him want to pull his hair out was not where Daniel had expected to find himself on this Saturday afternoon. But here he was. He was also starving. While she cried, he glanced around the kitchen again and his eyes went to the bowl sitting on the floor on the other side of Vala. It was a big bowl, the biggest bowl he'd ever owned.

Vala had bought it that morning.

The big bowl was about three quarters full of fluffy pink frosting. It looked great. It looked amazing in fact. His stomach growled and he hoped she couldn't hear over her sobs.

The frosting was the only thing within reach. And to reach it, he had to reach over her. Which could be a challenge, he acknowledged. But he was starving. And she was still crying. So he reached for it, trying not to let her know what he was doing. He couldn't quite get a grip on the bowl, but he managed to pull the spatula out of the pink fluffery. Vala seemed to be drying up a bit, just sniffing into her hands instead of sobbing. Daniel tried the frosting carefully, well aware of the disaster around him. But the frosting was delicious. So maybe she couldn't bake cupcakes, but at least her frosting was good.

"Daniel?"

Guiltily, he lowered the spatula and met her eyes. He was glad there was a hint of humor on her tear-stained face. "Yeah?"

"Are you snitching my frosting?"

"Maybe."

She stuck a finger in the bowl and licked it off. "At least this turned out good." She sighed and glanced around the kitchen. "I'm sure you've noticed by now that I haven't been a great success today."

Daniel reached across her and slathered more frosting on the spatula. He held it up in front of her. "I'd call this a success."

"My cupcakes..." She moaned. "I tried four times."

He was afraid she was going to cry again, "Vala, you could have asked for help. Not that I'm a great baker or anything."

"I wanted to make them for you, all by myself." She brushed some flour off her pants. "You were so sweet, you said I could use your kitchen and I wanted to make something wonderful, they look so easy on TV and here I've gone and made a mess again."

"You don't know how to bake?"

"Not a bit."

"Why then?"

"Because I wanted to make you something nice, do something for you to make you happy."

He studied her. Genuine disappointment was written all over her face. He smiled and held up the spatula. "I'm happy."

She glared at him for a moment, then pursed her lips, considering. Tilting her head, she asked, "You are?"

"Yeah. Come on." He pulled her to her feet.

"What are we doing?"

"Making cupcakes."

"But...but..."

"But nothing. You wanted to bake. I want cupcakes."

* * *

"These are amazing!"

Daniel licked frosting off his finger and grinned at her. "I told you."

Vala sat back, her feet up on the coffee table, some singing competition on the TV and a tray of cupcakes on her lap. "It was my idea."

"It was my idea to set the oven temperature correctly." Daniel smirked, grabbing another cupcake.

"I bought the supplies..."

"Which I paid for..."

"Which you never would have bought without me." Vala narrowed her eyes at him.

"True."

Working together, they had finally managed to get a tray of cupcakes that were perfect. A frozen pizza had been thrown in as they were frosting the cupcakes and they had settled on the couch to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Vala finished her third cupcake and leaned her head back against the couch, sighing heavily.

"What?" Daniel asked, distracted from the singing by her sigh.

"I was just thinking about the kitchen."

"Bit of a mess."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I've made bigger messes myself."

"I don't believe you."

"Ask Teal'c. Ask him about the time we made brownies."

"Hmm, I will!" Vala grinned, intrigued. Daniel hadn't seemed uncomfortable in the kitchen, but it was interesting to picture him and Teal'c making brownies. "So I should probably clean the kitchen."

Daniel shrugged, "We'll get to it."

Vala focused on the TV and tried to mask her surprise. She had been expecting him to want her to leave right away after they finished eating. But apparently he was content. That made her happy. Really happy. Daniel had allowed her to come over, use his kitchen, make messes, and was content to have her sitting next to him on the couch and watching TV. It was so nice, it was perfect. In fact, she tilted her head and chewed on a nail, it was kind of...sort of like...

"It's not a date." Daniel looked over at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Hmm?" Vala tried to pretend she had been completely engrossed in the singing.

"You heard me."

Feigning innocence, she said, "You said something about a date..."

"It's not a date."

"What's not?"

"This." He moved his hand between them, keeping his eyes glued to the screen.

"Oh." Vala nodded enthusiastically, "Right. Of course. Never thought it was."

"Uhhuh." Daniel wasn't buying it.

They were silent for a few minutes, then Vala suddenly snuggled closer to him. Daniel bit his lip and simply lifted up his arm and allowed her to settle against him. He was staring a hole through the TV but honestly wasn't hearing a single note anymore. He was sitting with Vala snuggled up way too close to him, his arm around her shoulder. Daniel could feel his heart thudding and he wondered if she could hear it. And _why_ exactly was he sitting with Vala snuggled up way to close to him? He'd been being nice to let her come over to make cupcakes; that was supposed to be it. Just make cupcakes and let her get out of the mountain for a few hours while he worked. Now, it was an entire day later and he found himself in no hurry for her to leave.

If a Goa'uld or an Ori had stepped through the front door at that moment, Daniel wouldn't have been more afraid than he was at this exact moment.

"So." Vala's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Hm?"

"So, if it isn't a date..."

"Which it's not."

"What is it then?" Vala twirled a hand through her hair, wondering if she was pushing her luck. He had let her cuddle up close to him, which was something very rare and special. It made her wonder.

Daniel gathered his wits and said, "It's just perfect."

Vala was glad her head was down against his chest so he couldn't see the tears springing into her eyes. _Perfect_. He had said it was just perfect. She felt him run his hand through her hair. That was new. He hadn't done that before and it felt so nice. It felt like someone really cared about her. It had been a long, long time since she'd had people in her life who cared about her. She hugged him a bit closer and put her hand into his free hand. He squeezed back.

She whispered, "Daniel..."

"Vala?"

"It is perfect, isn't it?"

"I think so."

"Daniel?"

"Hm?"

"I'm going to try not to mess this up."

"Yeah, me too." Daniel took a deep breath. He couldn't believe what he was about to say. He couldn't believe he was even thinking it, but he was. He was thinking that his heart was finally ready. Ready to take another tiny step forward. He said softly, "Vala, I need to take this slow."

Heart thumping in her ears, Vala nodded against his chest, "So do I."

"You may get tired of waiting."

"You may get tired of me."

"Never."

Vala raised her head and their eyes met. She saw the conviction in his eyes and her heart warmed. She smiled. "So, we're really doing this then?"

"Doing what?" Daniel grinned at her.

"Nothing."

"Exactly."

"So we're good?"

"I think we're good. I think we're very, very good."


	10. Ch 10: It was just the little things

Teal'c usually remained quiet on most matters. If his opinion was required, he would give it. If requested, he would also offer it up. There were occasions, of course, when he would openly volunteer his opinion. But usually, he maintained his silence and patiently allowed others around him to carry on discussions while he observed. Today, however his opinion had been requested and he was now mulling the best response to the question.

Teal'c considered the question and the possible responses to it. It was no secret to him. Was no secret to most people, he assumed. And it certainly wasn't a secret even to the man who had asked the question. But O'Neill was asking his opinion, asking how he knew it was for real. Teal'c let his mind wander and analyze the reasons that proved he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was real. He had long ago discovered it wasn't anything big. Wasn't anything flamboyant. It was just the little things.

The way he stared at her whenever she walked away, whenever she left a room. He would look up from whatever he was doing, or away from whoever he was talking to and watch her leave the room, completely getting distracted in the process. That was perhaps the first sign that Teal'c had noticed. The first sign that Daniel Jackson had more than a passing interest in Vala Mal Doran.

It was the day that Teal'c had entered his office and found Daniel Jackson had cleared off a shelf in the back corner for Vala. She had a stack of magazines, candy bars, a pink fluffy stuffed bear and a CD player on the shelf.

It was when, while searching in one of the archaeologists office drawers for a pencil, Teal'c found that one of Vala Mal Doran's sparkly hair clips had found a new resting place. He had seen Daniel Jackson move it off the desk and put it in a pocket the week before. Teal'c had assumed he had returned it, but obviously he had been mistaken.

It was little things like finding Daniel Jackson using a pink pen when he couldn't find anything else to use. The time when they all went bowling and the archaeologist had made sure he carried Vala Mal Doran's glittery purple ball despite her insistence that she could carry her own ball. When he finally stopped complaining about her "borrowing" his credit cards and actually helped her shop for that new CD that she wanted to listen to.

It was when he had bought her a laptop so she could watch DVDs in the pink chair she stashed in the back of his office. How he now stocked chocolate chip cookies along with his Oreos because he knew she liked them best.

And it wasn't just one-sided, either.

It was just the little things like the way she always made sure she was near him. No, not every second of every day, but always for the majority of the time. The way she picked on him, the way she got flustered when he got flustered. When she smuggled him coffee while he was in the infirmary. Encouraging him when he was down about a mission gone wrong, whispering in his ear on team nights when they were all in the dark watching movies and she thought no one would notice.

The day she cried in his own arms after a mission when Daniel Jackson had taken a bullet protecting Mitchell and she had thought he was going to die. When Daniel Jackson had nearly drowned himself in a bottle of something very strong after she had been kidnapped and the long days passed without any indication they would ever find her again. The undisguised peace that settled over each of them whenever the other one was near.

Which wasn't to say they didn't have their rough patches.

It was common knowledge around the SGC. When Daniel Jackson and Vala Mal Doran argued, they argued hard and fast (and loud) but the storm usually blew over fairly quickly. And then they would begin arguing again. They never went very long without a fight. However, Teal'c had been noticing that the real arguments, the ones that stung and hurt, were becoming fewer and farther between. The other arguments were nearly daily, sometimes hourly. But those were the ones that made him smile. The ones where they had a difficult time hiding the fact that they cared about each other. The ones where they used their arguing to actually get to know one another better and allow their budding relationship to blossom.

It was the night they spent off world and Daniel Jackson had called out in his sleep. For the first time since Teal'c had known him, the name he had called out wasn't Sha're.

"Teal'c?"

O'Neill's voice broke into his thoughts.

"T buddy, ya still there?"

"Indeed."

"Well? Kinda waiting on an answer here."

Teal'c nodded, looking away from the lake back to the man patiently fishing next to him. O'Neill's eyebrows were raised expectantly. The rest of the team had gone into town for more food, leaving himself and O'Neill fishing in companionable silence. They hadn't spoken for almost twenty minutes before O'Neill had asked his question.

All he had asked was, "Daniel and Vala?"

All he had _meant_ was, _Teal'c, tell me if they are as deeply in love as I think they are. Tell me Daniel's happy, truly, truly, incredibly happy. Let me know that things are going so well for them that I don't have to keep worrying about him. Tell me that she's good for him, as good as I think she is. Tell me she's not going to break his heart, but will continue to heal his heart and complete him. Tell me that I was right all along when I first told you that the mysterious pirate who had taken over the Prometheus was the one. The one perfect woman for my best friend. That even though it looked like she had disappeared off the face of the Earth, out of the entire galaxy in fact, that Daniel wasn't going to rest until he found her. Tell me Daniel is going to be ok._

Teal'c could see it all in O'Neill's eyes. All the hope, the compassion and the worry. Thinking back over all the little, but significant reasons that he knew for sure that the answer to all of O'Neill's questions was a resounding yes, they are truly, deeply in love and perfect for each other, he tried to come up with a simple answer.

Teal'c smiled.

Jack returned the smile, casting his line out into his empty lake again, peace overcoming him, "That's all I wanted to know."

* * *

**Jack and Daniel aren't the ****_only _****ones who can do a lot of talking without saying much, are they? :)**


End file.
